Posted on

Southern East Coast

Georgia

We spent Wednesday evening in Kingsland, GA at the Comfort Suites off exit 3. It was so beautiful.  Our room was very clean and comfortable. We really didn’t want to get out of bed because they were so soft, but the hot and fresh waffles and fresh breakfast made it a little easier. We would definitely recommend this hotel. With the coupon in the free hotel coupon books available at Florida’s rest stops and also in the hotel foyer our stay here was less than $70.00.

Georgia River

Georgia was beautiful. Lots of green and rivers and creeks. One thing I did notice was how the drivers just seemed to be very courteous. I’ve never seen so many drivers smiling, waving, letting others merge and just good safe driving. Maybe it was partly to the fact that right as you enter Georgia there is a huge billboard declaring that texting in Georgia is ILLEGAL!  And there were several reminders along the roadways.

Entrance to South Carolina

We were impressed by the entrance to South Carolina. But wow! It seemed like it took forever to get across the state. Hwy 95 North was a pretty drive, lots of trees and green.

South of the Border Billboard

As we drove we started seeing lots of billboards for a place called South of The Border. We thought maybe it was a restaurant or big store. But we were not prepared for what we saw when we drove by. It was its own town. There were amusement rides, a sombrero tower, a train, and much, more. It was very interesting.

South of The Border, SC

We crossed over into North Carolina just passed South of the Border. Then into Virginia a few hours later. It seemed like we drove forever.

Welcome to North Carolina

We finally arrived in Maryland about 11:30pm, but boy we were not prepared for what happened next.

We had reservations at the Red Roof Inn in Laurel, BUT what your online reservation doesn’t tell you is if the hotel is in the BAD part of town! There were vagrants wandering all over the parking lot and people hanging off of the above balconies.

Welcome to Virginia

We pulled up and everyone started looking at us like we were steaks and they hadn’t eaten in a week. I got even more worried when I went to the front office and they were behind bullet proof glass. Let’s just say we did NOT stay. Instead we went across town and got a room at the Holiday Inn Express. MUCH nicer and MUCH better part of town. Really looking forward to visiting a couple days here in Maryland.

 

Till next time, enjoy your journey,

Rachele T.

 

[tb_google_map]

Posted on

Back On The Road Again-East Coast Road Trip

East Coast Road Trip- Just us girls!

Time for one more road trip this year. This time its just me and the girls. We are heading to Florida first to see my oldest daughter first. Then up to DC to see my brother and sister. Then we will be heading up to Upstate NY to see my dad, sisters, and uncles. So we will have quite an adventure the next two weeks.

Passing thru South Louisiana!

We got our rental car first thing Monday morning. It’s a VW Passat. (Ok, I will never spend a dime on this car to buy it. It is the most uncomfortable car I have ever been in.) By the time we got loaded we headed out a little after lunch. We made it as far as Pensacola, FL Monday night. We stayed in the Econolodge on Lavelle Way, just off I-10 behind the Cracker Barrel. Oh my! That was the worst hotel room I have ever been in. I’ll spare you the details, just take my word for it DO NOT EVER stay there! We couldn’t even get another room because the phone didn’t work and the front desk refused to answer their buzzer again.

Florida had some really nice rest stops.

Tuesday was massive thunderstorms all the way across Florida. It didn’t help that the wipers on the Passat do not go very fast at all, so it couldn’t remove the water fast enough, so it was very difficult to see, so driving was really slow. We finally made it to Boca Raton late Tuesday evening. We stayed at the Quality Inn on Federal and it was much nicer. It was still an older hotel, but the rooms were clean and comfortable.

My oldest daughters final semester at Digital Media Arts College in Boca Raton, FL

We got to visit my daughter, Jelissa’s, school there in Boca Raton. She is finishing up her last semester and took a few hours out of her busy final schedule to spend the afternoon with us. We are so proud of her. She has worked so hard and we really hope she does well and gets a job offer soon.

My daughter and her boyfriend

It was so good to see her again. It has been about two years since we saw her last. We got to visit with her boyfriend for a few minutes when he got off work before we had to get back on the road.

We decided to take the scenic route on the way back and cruised up the coastline for a bit. The ocean was very beautiful and some of the houses were just amazing.

Delray Beach, FL

We finally made it back onto the hwy and headed North about 4pm. We got through Jacksonville and stopped for the night in Kingsland, GA

Till next time, enjoy your journey,

Rachele T.

 

 

[tb_google_map]